NATO Nations Are Participating In The Largest Anti-Submarine Warfare Exercise The Organization Has Ever Held

Since 03-13-04

From NSL UPDATE 03-12-2004

Petty Officer Russ Tafuri Of Our Sigonella, Sicily Bureau Brings Us This Report On "Exercise Dogfish.

NATO's Exercise Dogfish takes place in the Ionian Sea off the eastern coast of Sicily and demonstrates NATO's determination to maintain proficiency. In coordinated anti-submarine, anti-surface, and coastal surveillance operations using a multinational force of ships, submarines and aircraft. "It's the bases for NATO. It's bringing a number of nations together to show what capabilities as a group we can bring. Every nation knows through their own training process what it can bring to a certain scenario."

Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United States will provide the submarines participating In the exercise. Each submarine will have the opportunity of being a hunter as well as the hunted. "With 19 nations in NATO we need to know as group how to interoperate and bring the particular strength of those counties into a certain operation."

Dogfish 04 is an opportunity for NATO nations to operate together in a very specialized type of warfare and emulate real-life operations taking place in the eastern Mediterranean today with Operation Active Endeavor, NATO's Anti-Terrorism Operation. "There are 14 nations here split between the aircraft, the submarines and the ships that we have involved here." 130 day and night air missions are planned and will be coordinated from multinational NATO Headquarters, Allied Naval Forces South in Naples, Italy.

C. Michael Garverick
Captain, U. S. Navy (Retired)
Executive Director
Naval Submarine League www.navalsubleague.com 
(703) 256-0891(V) - (703) 642-5815 (FAX)